Pressure opened circulating sleeve

ABSTRACT

A VALVE FOR USE IN A STRING OF TUBING SUSPENDED IN A WELL BORE. A TUBULAR SUB HAVING A FIRST PORT IN THE WALL THEREOF IS CONNECTED INTO THE TUBING STRING. A FIRST SLEEVE VALVE SURROUNDS THE TUBULAR MEMBER AND IN ITS UPER POSITION OPENS THE PORT AND IN ITS LOWER POSITION CLOSES THE PORT. AN UPPER FLUID-DRIVEN PISTON IS USED TO DRIVE THE SLEEVE VALVE DOWN AND A LOWER FLUID-DRIVEN PISTON IS USED TO DRIVE THE SLEEVE UPWARD. THE PISTONS ARE SPRING BIASED AWAY FROM THE SLEEVE VALVE, ONE OF THE SPRINGS HAVING ABOUT TWICE THE COMPRESSIVE RESISTANCE OF THE OTHER. APPLI-   CATION OF SELECTED PRESSURES TO THE PISTONS WILL CAUSE THE RIGHT PISTON TO MOVE IN THE REQUIRED DIRECTION TO OPEN OR CLOSE THE SLEEVE VALVE. THERE IS PROVIDED A RETRIEVABLE INSERTABLE TOOL COMPRISING (A) A SLEEVE HAVING A PORT ALIGNED WITH THE FIRST PORT IN THE SUB AND (B) A SECOND SLEEVE VALVE INSIDE THE SLEEVE FOR OPENING AND CLOSING THIS PORT.

March .23, '1971 J, H, ECUER 3,572,434

i PRESSURE OPENED CIRCULATINGKSLEEVE Filed Oct. 1969 INVENTOR. lJOHN H. ECUER FIG.2

L N O 8 ATTORNEY FIG. l

United States Patent O 3,572,434 PRESSURE OPENED CIRCULATING SLEEVE John H. Ecuer, Lafayette, Ind., assignor to Pan American Petroleum Corporation, Tulsa, Okla. Filed Oct. 3, 1969, Ser. No. 863,474 Int. Cl. E21b 33/124 U.S. Cl. 166-147 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A valve for use in a string of tubing suspended in a Well bore. A tabular sub having a iirst port in the wall thereof is connected into the tubing string. A iirst sleeve valve surrounds the tubular member and in its upper position opens the port and in its lower position closes the port. An upper iluid-driven piston is used to drive the sleeve valve down and a lower fluid-driven piston is used to drive the sleeve upward. The pistons are spring biased away from the sleeve valve, one of the springs having about twice the compressive resistance of the other. Application of selected pressures to the pistons will cause the right piston to move in the required direction to open or close the sleeve valve. There is provided a retrievable insertable tool comprising (a) a sleeve having a port aligned with the rst port in the sub and (b) a second sleeve valve inside the sleeve for opening and closing this port.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the invention This invention relates to a downhole valve for insertion in a tubing string. The valve is to open or close a port in the wall of the tubing string.

(2) Setting of the invention For years man has been drilling oil wells into the earth, casing the hole and suspending a string of tubing inside the casing. Many times he places a sidewall valve in the lower end of the string of tubing. There are many reasons why it is desired to have such a sidewall valve. IBroadly speaking, such valve permits communication from the inside of the string to the annulus between the string and the casing when open, and when closed prevents such communication. Many ne downhole valves have been developed for this use. Many of them work iine in wells that are drilled nearly straight. However, many wells are drilled at a highly deviated angle, i.e., the wells stray a long way from vertical. Frequently this is done intentionally as when drilling from an offshore platform to many lateral locations. Other times it is unintentional as when the earth into which the well is drilled has steeply dipping formations. Most of the downhole'valves are wireline operated and do not operate very well in highly deviated holes. Thus, there is a need for better downhole tubing valve for use in highly deviated well bores.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention concerns a valve for use in a tubing string suspended in a well bore. The lower end of the tubing string is provided with a special subsection having a port in the wall thereof, In the preferred embodiment, an outer sleeve having a port surrounds this portion of the subsection. When this outer sleeve is in a rst position the port of the sleeve is aligned with the port in the subsection. When the sleeve is in a second position the ports are not aligned and the port of the subsection is, in eilect, closed. I provide an upper fluid-operated piston and a lower huid-operated piston for moving the sleeve up and down so as to open and close the port in the wall of the subsection. A retrievable tool is placed inside this tubular subsection. This tool contains a port in its wall which is aligned with the port in the subsection. The lower end of this retrievable tool is closed or plugged. Slidably retained within the retrievable tool is an inner sleeve valve which is tluid actuated, When moved to an upper position this inner sleeve has a port which is aligned with the port in the wall of the subsection. Before this inner sleeve is moved to its upper position it acts as a valve in closing such port. The retrievable tool is removed during normal operations and the outer sleeve valve is closed and fluid flows up through the tubular string as in a conventional completion. When it is desired to open the side port in the tubing, i.e., establish fluid communication between the interior of the tubing string and the annulus, the retrievable tool is inserted. Then, increased pressure is applied to the lower piston to drive the outer sleeve valve upwardly. When this occurs the uid pressure from the annulus is permitted to drive the inner piston upwardly. Thus the valve is opened. When it is desired to close the valve, fluid pressure within the tubing is applied to the upper piston, thus forcing it downwardly which drives the sleeve valve downwardly, thus closing it.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Various objects and a better understanding of the invention can be had from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG.1 is an enlarged partially sectionalized view of the tool;

FIG. 2 illustrates a completion system using the tool of FIG. 1.

Attention is rst directed to FIGA which illustrates the lower end of a string of tubing 10 suspended in a well bore having casing 12 therein. A packer 14 surrounds the lower end of tubing 10. Just above packer 14, a subsection 16 having a port 18 therein is connected into tubing string 10. It is this port 18 which is opened and closed. I will rst discuss that portion of the mechanism which is external of sub 16 and later discuss the retrievable tool which is inserted inside the tubing,

The upper portion of subsection 16 is provided with threads 20. These threads 20 connect into a special connector 22 which has upper internal threads 24 which mate with the threads of a joint 11 of the tubing string 10. The lower end of special joint 22 is provided with a piston skirt 26 which houses upper piston 28. This piston is urged upwardly by springs 30 which are contained within piston skirt 26. The lower side of piston 28 is iiuidly connected to the annulus 32 between tubing string and the casing 12 by a port 34. The upper portion of piston cylinder 29 above piston 28 is in iiuid communication with the interior of tubing 10 through port 36. Piston 28 has a lower extension sleeve 38 which, as will be seen, is used to move outer sleeve valve 40 which surrounds port 18 between an upper and a lower position.

Outer sleeve valve 40 is provided with a port 42 which in the position shown in-FIG. 1 is not in alignment with port 18. Thus, port 18 in this shown position is closed. There are suitable seals 44, 46 and 48 between sleeve 18 and subsection 16.

Lower cylindrical skirt S0 having piston 52 therein is provided below valve sleeve 40. Piston 52 is urged in its downward position by spring 54. Piston 52 has an upwardly extending cylindrical arm 56 which under certain conditions is used to urge sleeve valve 40 in an upward direction. Piston spring 54 is much stronger than piston spring 30 of the upper cylinder. For example, spring 50 might be a 1,000 lb. spring and spring 30 might be a 500 lb. spring. As will be seen this is to effect the movement of sleeve 40 in the proper direction.

Attention will neXt be directed toward the retrievable tool which is positioned inside the tubing string. The tubing string is provided to have an internal seat 58. The retrievable cylindrical tool has an upper generally cylindrical section -62 and a lower plug 64. lf desired, the cylindrical portion may have a locking recess 66 near its upper end so that retrieving devices, not shown, can lock onto the tool when it is desired to move it. Cylindrical portion 62 is further provided with a recess section 68. Mounted in this section is an inner sleeve valve 70. When I refer to the term retrievable tool, I include the sleeve 70. (For construction purposes, cylindrical sleeve 62 can be made in an upper portion and a lower portion connected at 72 such as by welding or other well known means. This is to permit the fabrication of inner sleeve valve 70 and then placing of it in recess 68.) Sleeve valve 70 has an upper outwardly extending lip 74 to serve as a piston which is provided with a seal 76. A port 78 is provided in sleeve valve 70 and in the position shown is below seal 80. Above seal 80 there is provided a port 82 in the wall of cylinder 62 of the retrievable tool.

Between the outer wall of cylinder 62 and the inner wall of the tubing, there are provided four packing or seal means: an upper seal 83, a lower seal 84, an upper intermediate seal 86 and a lower intermediate seal 88. Between lower seal '84 and lower intermediate seal 88 there is provided a port 90 in cylinder 62. This is aligned with port 92 which provides lluid communication between the interior of cylinder 62 and the lower side of the piston S2.

Having described the main components of FIG. 1, attention will now be directed toward how uid pressure is applied so that the tool operates to open port 18 so that there is fluid communication between the interior tubing and the annulus 32 between the tubing and the casing. When it is desired to move the outer sleeve valve 40 upwardly, the retrievable tool with sleeve 70 in its lower position is inserted. The uid pressure is applied down through tubing 10. This pressure acts through ports 90 and 92 to force piston 52 upwardly. Arm 54 drives sleeve valve 40 to its upper position whereby its port 42 is aligned with port 18. At this time pressure can be relaxed or relieved in tubing 10 and piston 52 returns to its position shown in FIG. 1. However, outer sleeve 40 remains in its upper position so that ports 42 and 18 are aligned.

At this time fluid pressure is applied to annulus 32. This iluid pressure tends to hold piston 28 in its upward position as desired. However, the iluid pressure acts through ports 42 and 18 and against piston lip 74 of inner sleeve 70 to drive sleeve 70 upward. When this sleeve is driven upwardly to its upper position, port 78 is aligned with previously aligned ports 82, 18 and 42. Thus, at this time there is established a passage between the annulus 32 and the interior of the tubing 10. The retrievable tool is then withdrawn. Then pump down tools can be pumped down tubing string 10.

Attention will now be directed toward the operations required to close port 18 by the moving of the outer sleeve 40 to its lower position so that port 42 is no longer aligned with port 18. Piston 28 is used to force cylinder sleeve 40 downwardly. This is accomplished by applying fluid pressure through port 36 to the upper side of piston 28. To accomplish this, when the retrievable tool is removed, upper packing 83 is removed. Then the tool (with packing 83 removed) is re-inserted into the position shown in FIG. l and with sleeve 70 in its lower position closing port 82. At this time the addition of fluid pressure in tubing 10 acts on the upper side of piston 28 and the lower side of piston 52. However, it will be recalled that spring 30 is much weaker than spring 54. In the given example it is one-half as strong. Thus suicient pressure is added to the interior of tubing string 10 to drive piston 28 downwardly. This drives sleeve y40 to the position shown in FIG. l, again closing the port 18. The retrievable tool is removed and conventional production operations can be had through tubing 10.

There are various uses to which the sliding sleeve assembly of FIG. 1 can be used in the operation of oil wells. It can be used as a circulating valve on single or dual completions to displace tubing strings at the time of the completion. The valve can also be used in PDT (pump down tool) operations in systems such as shown in FIG. 2. Shown thereon is an upper packer and a lower packer 102 set in casing 1'04. Casing 104 has perforations 106 below packer 102and perforations 108 between the packers. There are three strings of tubing shown in FIG. 2. Short string 110 which only goes through upper packer 100, a long string7 112 which extends through both packers. String 110 is used to produce fluid through perforations 108 and string 112 to produce lluid from the lower formation through perforations 106. Strings 110 and 112 are ordinarily about 31/2 inches in diameter. A smaller string 114 is suspended in the well bore and is of a smaller size, eg., 1 or 1% inches in diameter. The smaller string 114 extends through both packers and opens below the lower packer. String 114 has positioned therein between the packers a valve means 116 which is similar to the valve means of FIG. 1. Below valve system 116 is a plug recess portion 118.

I shall briefly discuss the operation of the System of FIG. 2. The lower zone is produced through perforations 106 and up through string 112. Upper formation 107 is produced through tubing string 110. For displacing fluids, circulation can be down the slim string 114 and back up string 112, or the circulation can be in the opposite direction. In this operation, valve 116 has the retrievable tool removed so that there is provided an axial opening completely through element 116.

If it is desired to circulate down tubing string 114 and up short string 110, the following procedure is taken. A plug is pumped down string 114 ahead of the retrievable tool to seat in plug recess 118 in a known manner. The setting of this plug in recess 118 can be checked by applying pressure to line 114. The retrievable tool is then run with sleeve 70 in its lower position. Then pressure is applied through tubing string 114 to cause sleeve 46 to be shifted upwardly aligning ports '82, 18 and 42 as explained above in connection with the operation of FIG. l. I can bleed olf the pressure in tubing string 114 to obtain sufcient differential pressure to shift sleeve 70. Thus the sidewall port 18 is opened. Thus a circulating path is established, comprising tubing string 114 and short string While the above embodiments have been described with a great deal of detail, it is possible to produce modifications thereof without departing from the spirit or scope of the 1nvention.

I claim:

1. A valve for use in a tubing string suspended in a well bore which comprises:

a rst tubular housing having a port in the Wall thereof, said housing being adapted to be connected into said drill string las a part thereof;

outer valve means surrounding said housing and of a character to open and close said port of said rst tubular housing;

an insertable retrievable tool having a tubular member and a second port therein;

a seat in said tubing for said insertable retrievable tool, when said retrievable tool is seated on said seat, said second port is aligned with said rst port;

inner valve means interior said tubular housing of said retrievable tool operable to open and close the said second port.

2. An apparatus as defined in claim 1 in which said outer valve means is an outer cylindrical sleeve having a port therein and surrounding said iirst port and movable between a lower and upper position to effectively open and close said rst port.

3. An apparatus as delined in claim 2 including means to move said outer sleeve which includes la lower piston housing on the outside of said first tubular housing and a lower spring loaded piston mounted in said lower piston housing, one side of said lower piston being exposed to fluid pressure in the annulus between the tubing string and the =well bore and the other side of the piston being in fluid communication with the interior of the drill string;

a first spring in said first housing for urging said piston away from said first sleeve valve;

an upper piston operable to drive said first valve sleeve means downwardly;

a piston housing surrounding said second piston, the

upper side of said piston being in fiuid communication with the interior of said tubing string 'when said insertable tool is removed;

a second spring in said second piston housing urging said piston upwardly, said first spring having a compressive resistance greater than that of said second spring.

4. An apparatus as defined in claim 3 in which said inner sleeve member has an outwardly directing lip in the upper end thereof;

a seal between said lip and the inner wall of said housing;

a sealing means between said sleeve and said houing means below said second port.

5. An apparatus as defined in claim 3 in which said first spring has a compressive resistance of about twice that of said second spring.

6. An apparatus as defined in claim 3 including a closure means for the lower end of said tubular member of said insertable tool.

7. A well completion system for use with pump down tools in a well bore which comprises:

an upper packer set in a Well bore;

a lower packer set in said Iwell bore;

a first string of tubing extending from the surface to below said upper packer;

a second string of tubing extending from the surface to below said lower packer, the lower end of said second string opening directly into said well bore below said lower packer;

a third string of tubing extending from the surface to below said lower packer, the lower end of said third string opening directly into said well bore below said lower packer, the only fluid communication between said second string vand said third string below said lower packer is through said well bore;

a sidewall valve connected into said third tubular string and positioned between said upper packer and said lower packer means for closing said third tubing string below said sidewall valve and independent of said second string.

8. A system as defined in claim 7 in which said sidewall valve comprises:

a first tubular housing having a port in the wall thereof, said housing being adapted to be connected into said drill string as a part thereof;

outer valve means surrounding said housing and of a character to open and close said port of said first tubular housing;

an insertable tool having a tubular member and a second port therein;

a seat in said tubing for said insertable tool, when said insertable tool is seated on said seat said second port is aligned with said first port;

inner valve means interior said tubular member of said insertable tool and operable to open and close the said second port.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,616,503 11/1952 Armentrout 166-224 3,115,187 12/1963 Brown 166-224 3,381,753 5/1968 Fredd 166-147 3,448,803 6/ 1969 Sizer 166-224 JAMES A. LEPPINK, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 166-224 

